Purification

How to Make Wudu

Ten illustrated steps, following the Prophet’s ﷺ ablution as described by ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan — with the evidence beside every step.

Step 1 of 1010%

1 — Intention

Intend in your heart that you are performing wudu for prayer. The intention lives in the heart; you do not need to say it aloud.

The evidence

«إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى»

Actions are but by intentions, and every person shall have only what they intended.

Sahih al-Bukhari 1

What breaks wudu?

Anything that exits the private parts (urine, stool, wind).
Deep sleep in which you lose awareness.
Loss of consciousness through fainting or intoxication.
Other cases the schools differ on (such as touching the private parts, or skin contact with the opposite sex) — refer these to qualified scholars.

Before you begin

Use clean water, and only a little — don’t be wasteful, even at a running river.
Remove anything that stops water reaching the skin (nail polish, for example).
Keeping the order without long gaps is strongly emphasised — follow the steps in sequence.

If there is no water — tayammum

If you cannot find water, or using it would harm you through illness, perform tayammum: intend, strike clean earth (or what stands in for it) with your palms, then wipe your face, then your hands. (Qur’an 4:43 and 5:6)
The Prophet ﷺ showed ‘Ammar ibn Yasir that one strike is enough: “It would have sufficed you to do this” — he struck the ground with his palms and wiped his face and hands. (Sahih al-Bukhari 338)
What counts as a valid surface, and what to do if water is found afterwards — questions for a qualified authority.

Sources for this lesson

Everything on this page is drawn from the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah, with links that open the original text on established reference sites. Where the schools of law legitimately differ, that is flagged rather than settled here.